Any back-roads wander through the Catskills reveals a rolling showcase of crumbling restaurants for sale. They sit in various states of abandonment and disrepair, weeds creeping toward their leaning porches.
And then there’s the former Crossroads Diner in the Delaware County hamlet of Grand Gorge.
The 1950s-era classic building was rescued from a field in Gilboa in 2008 and moved to its current location at the junction of Route 23 and Route 30 just north of Roxbury, according to NY Diners. A few years later, public records show, it was purchased by Frank Pizzicarola, a general contractor on Long Island with a weekend house nearby.
Over several years of weekends, Pizzicarola painstakingly and lovingly restored it. He spent many hours laboring over his side project, pouring a new concrete stoop, polishing the chrome that gleams inside and out, restoring original details, installing mini jukeboxes.
Sadly, Pizzicarola passed away before realizing his life’s dream of opening the diner, his son Anthony tells Catskill Eats, so the family has put the building on the market.
They haven’t set a sale price, but are open to offers, the younger Pizzicarola said. The half-acre property includes the diner building, which was built by the Fodero Dining Car Co. in 1955, as well as a large garage building to the rear.
Here at Catskill Eats HQ, we are sure there is an aspiring restaurateur out there who can bring this space to life with great food; bring on the pie.
Find the diner at 37177 Route 23 in Grand Gorge. For more information, call the Pizzicarola family at 516-672-7049.
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